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Hi there,

You turn to Democracy Now! for ad-free news you can trust. Maybe you
come for our daily headlines, or for in-depth stories that expose government and corporate abuses of power. We produce our daily news hour at a fraction of the budget of a commercial news operation, all without ads, government funding or corporate underwriting? This is only possible with your support. Right now every donation to Democracy Now! will be doubled by a generous supporter. This means if you give $25 today, Democracy Now! will get $50 to support our daily news hour.Please do your part. It takes just a couple of minutes to make sure that Democracy Now! is there for you and everybody else in the coming year. Thanks so much. -Amy Goodman

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As the seemingly endless probe of President Clinton continues, criticism of independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr has grown. The White House has suggested, with some Republicans on Capitol Hill agreeing, that Starr’s own personal zealotry has led to an investigation that is spiraling out of control. While Starr is an aggressive prosecutor, and perhaps a politically motivated one as well, he is hardly the first to misuse a grand jury as a political instrument.

The grand jury began as a shield to protect the accused. Has it turned into a sword against the very people it was intended to protect?

Guest:

Margaret Ratner is an attorney. She was the head of the Grand Jury Project beginning in the late 1970s. She is one of the authors of the treatise “Representing Witnesses Before Federal Grand Juries.”

Roger Wareham, attorney for the December 12 movement. As one of the New York 8, he was charged with conspiracy (under RICO) to commit armored car robberies, and to break people out of prison. He was acquitted of RICO and convicted of arms possession. The Grand Jury lasted for 9 months.

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